 |
| Gathering at the Tree of Life UU Congregation. Photo by Lori Palmer Kane. |
Note: In
a whirlwind of emotions the past few days have flashed by as I stayed glued to
news accounts and processed what happened in Charlottesville and to our nation.
It was also taken up by leaping into action with the great folks from the Tree
of Life UU Congregation Social Justice Team to pull together a rapid response
vigil in McHenry last night. This is a
report on that action. My deeper
ruminations will be shared on posts over the next day or two.
I lost count as the gloaming settled in around the grounds of the Tree of Life Unitarian Church, 5603
Bull Valley Road in McHenry on
Monday night at just over 100 and more arrived later. It was a lovely,
warm, but mosquito infested evening
that brought folks from the comforts of
their homes from Wisconsin to the several points in the northern and western Chicago suburbs in addition to McHenry County. About 80% were not members of the Congregation and
most of them had never visited before. They came in response the widening ripples of a stone thrown in the pond of social
media—from posts shared by the McHenry
County Progressives, Indivisible, church notifications, and individual to
individual.
We
were not alone. In addition to A Vigil for Charlottesville—All Creeds, All Colors, All Caring
sponsored by Tree of Life’s Social Justice
Team—there were literally hundreds
of vigils, marches, and rallies across the United States and around the
world all standing up to White supremacy, bigotry, and the spreading threat of fascism.
Our
flickering candles out shine their torches. Our voices lifted in prayer and song drowns out
their hate filled chants. Our resistance and defiance stymies their strutting braggadocio. Our uncowed
defiance thwarts their school yard
bullying.
 |
| TOL Social Justice Team Co-Chair Judy Stettner, center led the vigil. My own lamentably blurry cell phone snap. |
Judy Stettner, co-chair of the
TOL Social Justice Team, presided as
the circle on the lawn by the Church widened and grew. After welcoming
remarks, she shared the account of Unitarian
Universalist Association (UUA) President Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray who was
in Charlottesville with a large contingent
of faith leaders from many
traditions to bear witness against
hate and offer their bodies to block the Neo-Nazi, White Nationalist, Ku Klux Klan, and armed Militia marchers.
Then it was this Old Man’s turn. After remembering the blood sacrifice of 32 year old anti-fascist hero Heather Heyer and the
needless deaths of Virginia State Police
Lt. H. Jay Cullon and Trooper Pilot
Berk M.M. Bates in a helicopter
crash responding to the violent
chaos unleashed by the organized
forces of bigotry, I said that it fell to me to be the voice of anger and outrage.
I was not there to lead a chorus
of Kumbaya. I recalled that earlier in the day I had read
remarks by Black scholar and activist Cornel West who was with the
religious leaders on both Friday night when the marching Nazis threatened the
church where they gathered and on Saturday when they placed themselves around
the scheduled park rallying point to block access to the Unite the Right marchers.
The ministers were confronted
and menaced with imminent attack unprotected
by police who had withdrawn. "The antifascists, and then, crucial, the anarchists, because they saved
our lives, actually. We would have been completely crushed, and I’ll
never forget that." West said. These are the same anti-fascists that the Cheeto-in-Charge and far too much of the media holds to be equally guilty for the violence.
 |
| The Old Man in the gloaming. Photo by Gregory Shaver from the Northwest Herald. |
On that note, I shared this new poem.
Munich and Charlottesville
August 13, 2017
So is this how it felt on the
streets of Munich
when the strutting Brown Shirts
in their polished jackboots,
Sam Browne, and scarlet arm bands
faced the scruffy Commies
in their cloth caps
and shirtsleeves rolled up
and battled in the beerhalls,
parks and streets.
All of the good people, the
nice people
cowered behind closed doors
and wished it would go away—
all of the liberals, the Catholics,
the new-bred pacifists of the Great War,
the professors and doctors,
editors and intellectuals,
the Social Democrats,
even—my God!—the Jews
who had not gone Red—
a pox on both your houses they solemnly intoned.
Hey, buddy, in retrospect
those damn Bolshies
look pretty good,
like heroes even.
Things look a little
different in Charlottesville,
in brilliant color not grainy black and white
and the Fascists can’t agree on a
Boy Scout uniform and array themselves
golf shirts and khakis, rainbow Klan hoods,
biker black and studs and strutting camo.
But the smell, you know, that
stench,
is just the same.
The question is—do you dare
be a Red today
or will you close your doors
and go back to your game consoles
and cat videos.
Which will it be, buddy?
—Patrick
Murfin
I will
expand upon this thought in an upcoming post.
 |
| Rev. Eric Fistler of the First Congregational Church in Crystal Lake. Photo by Gregory Shaver from the Northwest Herald |
Next we
heard from The Rev. Eric
Fistler of
the First Congregational Church in
Crystal Lake who cleared his schedule on short note to join the vigil. He offered moving and thought provoking
testimony.
Led
by some of the good, strong voices of
the Tree of Life Choir scattered
through the assemblage we all sang the hymn
Love Will Guide Us. The words seemed especially appropriate.
Love Will Guide Us
Love will guide
us,
Peace has tried
us,
Hope inside us
will lead the way
On the road from
greed to giving,
Love will guide
us through the hard night.
If you cannot
sing like angels,
If you cannot
speak before thousands,
You can give
from deep within you,
You can change
the world with your love.
Love will guide
us,
Peace has tried
us,
Hope inside us
will lead the way
On the road to
greed to giving,
Love will guide
us through the hard nights.
—Sally
Rogers lyrics, Betty A. Wylder music
 |
| By the roadside in candle lit silence. Photo by Lori Palmer Kane |
As
other from the gathering offered their own prayers and thoughts, candles were passed out and lit hand to
hand around the circle. Darkness was descending
as we progressed in silence down
the curving driveway under the towering trees to the street. We
spread out along Bull Valley road with
our candles and our signs. Judy Stettner
and I held Tree of Life’s new Standing
on the Side of Love banner. The electronic message board on our sign glowed with the announcement of
the Vigil for Charlottesville. There was
a solemn, purposeful silence with a background
song of crickets. Cars moved passed, their headlights shining. Many slowed down. The passengers in one white SUV rolled down their windows to shout out a cheer for President Trump. The thoughts
and feelings of the others passing by were an enigma to us.
We
did not linger long along the road. The
growing darkness made it dangerous.
After several minutes Judy rang
some chimes to announce the end of the vigil. We walked back up the dire
way with our candles still lit, feeling the reverence of the moment. Then beside the parking lot we clustered and chatted excitedly.
It
had been a good evening we
agreed. A very good evening.
